[2018 6 Nations] Round 5 : England v Ireland (17/03/2018)

[TRF_Olyy]

We taught him everything he knows

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Pointless procrastination exercise further fueling my potential disappointment tomorrow! Comparison of last year's sides where Ireland won 13-9 in a fashion slightly more comfortable than the scoreline suggested.

Good:
15. Jared Payne > Rob Kearney - We lose a lott in terms of playmaking here but Payne's fielding last year was poor and definitely should have been exposed more by England, overall a little worse off here though.
14. Keith Earls < Keith Earls - There's honestly no comparison between these two apart from probably being the same person, although I wouldn't be surprised if something had replaced the real Earls.
13. Garry Ringrose = Garry Ringrose - Maybe the newer, bigger Ringer is better but its hard to tell after one game.
12. Robbie Henshaw > Bundee Aki - Henshaw brings a hell of a lot more on both sides of the ball, Bundee is a presence and can be dangerous with ball in hand.
11. Simon Zebo < Stockdale - #Blessed Who knows where the son of a minister would be in Schmidt's plans had Zego not decided he was above the team and booked tickets to France!
10. Jonathan Sexton = Johnny Sexton - Same old best player in the world
9. Kieran Marmion < Conor Murray - If anyone objects get rid of all the glue in your house.

1. Jack McGrath = Cian Healy - Jack was a top 3 loosie in the world 12 months ago, Healo is now.
2. Rory Best (Capt) > Rory Best -
3. Tadhg Furlong = Tadhg Furlong - Same old best tighthead in the world!
4. Donnacha Ryan < James Ryan - Ryan the younger has been impeccable in pro rugby, the boy does no wrong, possibly the best lock in the tournament thus far and there's a few half decent ones in it.
5. Iain Henderson < Iain Henderson - He's come on leaps and bounds this year, a rare player that was helped by his Lions tour. (Maybe something to do with not playing a test?)
6. Peter O'Mahony = Peter O'Mahony
7. Sean O'Brien > Dan Leavy - For now.... And probably forever but Leavy is good enough to add the caveat of probably
8. CJ Stander = CJ Stander - In a different and less destructive role but my God this man has an engine!

Replacements

16. Niall Scannell = Sean Cronin - Cronin's form has been outrageous, I wouldn't have rated it like this 6 weeks ago
17. Cian Healy < Jack McGrath - Healo wasn't that hot last year.
18. John Ryan < Andrew Porter - The beast from the East adds a dimension Ryan doesn't have
19. Devin Toner < Devin Toner - Big improvement form the big man while fighting for his place for both club and country.
20. Dan Leavy > Jordi Murphy - Jordi is great but Dan is Dan
21. Luke McGrath = Kieran Marmion - At the time, I'd much prefer Luke right now.
22. Paddy Jackson > Joey Carbery - Stupid, stupid Jackson, regardless of what happens in the next couple weeks his biggest crime was unraveling Joe's RWC winning process.
23. Andrew Conway > Jordan Larmour - Boy Wonder needs time.

Joe Schmidt < Joe Schmidt - He's always evolving

I have last year down as having 7 better players and this year as having 7 too, although I'd almost count Murray as two. Overall we're a lot more settled than last year with a nice mix of guys in their first or secongd 6n and lads who have won lots througout their career but nothing quite on this scale like we had in '09. I'd take this year's crop in a heartbeat.


Evil:
15. Mike Brown = Anthony Watson - I like Watson and he has the potential to be better than Br**n ever was, which says a lot, he's too raw as of now at 15.
14. Anthony Watson > Johnny May - He's a disservice to the name that has belongs to GOATs of all time in these countries.
13. Jonathan Joseph = Jonathon Joseph - Polite enough not to abbreviate the name, good player Bill, not a great player.
12. Owen Farrell > Ben Te'o - One can pass, one has never betrayed Leinster, one has not had his ass handed to him by Bundee Aki twice. #ILoveFazjr
11. Elliot Daly = Elliot Daly - Elliot 'Less international tries than his opposite number in double the tests' Daly is a very, very good player, so good Jones should make him a centre...
10. George Ford = Owen Farrell - You're looking for balance with these two innit, think they missed a trick not playing Ford, Eddie is going very conservative
9. Ben Youngs > Richard Wigglesworth - Great name, mediocre game.

1. Joe Marler < Mako Vunipola - No comparison
2. Dylan Hartley (captain) = Dylan Hartley - Hit one of us Dylan, we're Irish, you know you want to!
3. Dan Cole = Kyle Sinckler - Dan the man is getting his name tarnished as a very good but very ugly prop getting flogged this year, Sinck is the new age but he's not up to the hairless giants standards of old just yet.
4. Joe Launchbury > George Kruis - Big fan of Kruis but when Launch has the platform to do what he does he's in a different league, very close though.
5. Courtney Lawes > Maro Itoje - Lawes was class last year, Itoje has been deece at best this year.
6. Maro Itoje < Chris Robshaw - Stupid Eddie Jones playing people in position, it could have been soooooo easy.
7. James Haskell = James Haskell - Up the Hask, Big lad, big banter game.
8. Billy Vunipola > Sam Simmonds - Billy may have been injured but Sam ain't big enough for an international 8.



Replacements:

16. Jamie George = Jamie George
17. Mako Vunipola > Joe Marler
18. Kyle Sinckler > Dan Cole - He's a better sub to be fair!
19. Tom Wood < Joe Launchbury - Tom Wood... 50 caps... lol
20. Nathan Hughes = Don Armand - Both big guys, both very good, both routinely beaten by Leinster in the respective years!
21. Danny Care = Danny Care - Or at least I hope he equals what he did this time last year!
22. Ben Te'o > George Ford
23. Jack Nowell > Mike Brown - I like Jack, definitely a better sub than Br**n

Eddie Jones = Eddie Jones - I'll give him time before sticking the knife in, I'll enjoy sticking that knife in if I can though!

10 better for last year's assortment, 3 for this year, that Twickenham factor gonna wanna be big! Of course this is only subjective, the only objective facts here are the team names and that Johnny Sexton is the best player in the world!

 

[Groundhog]

No matter who wins, we'll all be reminded by 15 year old New Zealanders on Facebook comments sections that "schoolboy games in NZ are better quality", how "scared we are to play" or how "lucky we were to beat" New Zealand and finally be asked the philosophical question "How many RWCs have NH teams won?".

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

New Zealand and Italy are the only tier 1 teams in world rugby not to have beaten a Gatland and/or Howley coached team in their last two attempts.

#SouthernHemisphererugbyisntgood

 

[ratsapprentice]

No matter who wins, we'll all be reminded by 15 year old New Zealanders on Facebook comments sections that "schoolboy games in NZ are better quality", how "scared we are to play" or how "lucky we were to beat" New Zealand and finally be asked the philosophical question "How many RWCs have NH teams won?".

Don't forget that their 13 year old Polynesians are bigger than our 13 year old Nigerians.

 

[dunney77]

Come on then...scores??

Heart says Ireland by 5

Head says England by 7

 

[Groundhog]

Mmmmm I'm gonna say the Yeomanry win it by around 3. Tough to know how England show out after two shocking performances, but they've not lost at home in like 5 years.

 

[big ginger 8]

67-0 to Ireland and Derrylondon is born.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Mmmmm I'm gonna say the Yeomanry win it by around 3. Tough to know how England show out after two shocking performances, but they've not lost at home in like 5 years.

Two and a half years!

I think it'll either be 19-16 to us as I predict every year or Ireland by 11-20 and my bank balance sees a nice wee boot either way!

 

[ratsapprentice]

Just checked the weather, lads....

Light snow predicted all morning.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

This is a massive massive match for Eng.

Win and we've beaten the previously undefeated champions and salvaged something.

Lose and that's 3 in a row against NH opposition. That simply doesn't happen to top teams and the players will be looking around at each other thinking that XY&Z aren't up to it. Jones' guru status will be dismantled and the players will also be starting to wonder about him. Especially if we're as clueless as in the last couple of games. It's human nature and confidence and momentum are huge things in sport.

Tiredness and injuries are factors, but they happen to all teams. Only partial mitigation at best.

Going to be a fascinating watch. If I have to call it it's Ire by 3.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

England have scored 12, 13 and 16 points in their last three matches and EJ decides the answer is to have /less/ creativity in the backs for this match?

Gatland can't hold a candle to EJ's dedication to Warrenball.

 

[spartan32]

I'm really hope this isn't a close boring game. And quite frankly I'd be expecting more from Ireland. They look strong and well prepared for every game. The way we've been looking and playing they shouldn't struggle too much with us.

The only chance we have is to totally change it up, be unexpected, we may as well throw caution to the wind. We. Any compete with the Irish at the breakdown and we can't rely on them giving easy points away as they are too disciplined, certainly much more so than we are. So it's time to start shifting that ball fast, which is something Wiggy can do. And then moving it through the hands and shifting the point of attack, which is something JJ, Watson, May and Daly can do (if on form).

If we play the same old nonesense against the Irish it will be a long and very painful afternoon.

All those lads have left is pride to play for, let's see how much it means to them.

As for prediction. I'm honestly worried Ireland might just run away this one. Ireland by at least two tries.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Gatland can't hold a candle to EJ's dedication to Warrenball.

Is it really dedication?
How many non-injury-enforced-starts has Teo had? Could probably count them on one hand.

We're not scoring points because we're playing poorly and have zero ball retention, not because we're playing Warrenball.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

England have scored 12, 13 and 16 points in their last three matches and EJ decides the answer is to have /less/ creativity in the backs for this match?

Gatland can't hold a candle to EJ's dedication to Warrenball.

England's scoring issues have been down to breakdown issues and our selection of a creative set of backs was pointless when the forwards were not doing even the basics right. If your team aren't getting the basics right then you can't expect anything else to follow as there is no foundation to build on.

 

[TommiG88]

England have scored 12, 13 and 16 points in their last three matches and EJ decides the answer is to have /less/ creativity in the backs for this match?

Gatland can't hold a candle to EJ's dedication to Warrenball.

I disagree. We've sured up our back row, which should produce cleaner, faster possession. We've had trouble keeping the ball, so where did you expect us to make points if we can't keep hold of the ball?

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Forgive me, I was being a wee bit tongue in cheek with the "dedication to Warrenball" remark - but I fail to see how the changes at 10 & 12 improve English ball retention. Scotland and even Italy can score points with consistently poorer retention from the pack than England have had in this tournament (but yeah, you've been mystifyingly poor there). We probably disagree on that, fair enough.

But do any of you honestly think your 10-15 is a better selection than against France last time out?

 

[TommiG88]

Forgive me, I was being a wee bit tongue in cheek with the "dedication to Warrenball" remark - but I fail to see how the changes at 10 & 12 improve English ball retention. Scotland and even Italy can score points with consistently poorer retention from the pack than England have had in this tournament (but yeah, you've been mystifyingly poor there). We probably disagree on that, fair enough.

But do any of you honestly think your 10-15 is a better selection than against France last time out?

Yeah, I do. Ford hasn't been in the game as we couldn't produce quick ball. He was a passenger marshalled by Farrell.

I think Farrell is hugely under rated as 10.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

We taught him everything he knows

About losing maybe, LOLOLOLOL

 

[TRF_Olyy]

About losing maybe, LOLOLOLOL